<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Sweet Dreams by FireflySummerwynd</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23181247">Sweet Dreams</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySummerwynd/pseuds/FireflySummerwynd'>FireflySummerwynd</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Poison (US Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Astral Projection, Dreams, F/M, Lucid Dreaming, Pagan, astral travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:01:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,237</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23181247</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySummerwynd/pseuds/FireflySummerwynd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They say that while a lotta Dreams can actually carry messages–whether from a deceased loved one of the Deities, themselves–a lotta others’re just Wishful thinking.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bobby Dall/Ash Ó Broin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They say that while a lotta Dreams can actually carry messages–whether from a deceased loved one of the Deities, themselves–a lotta others’re just Wishful thinking. Both scenarios’re just as true as the other, but that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t enjoy their Dreams–provided they’re not actually nightmares, that is. Even still, nightmares can be just as helpful as a <em>good</em> Dream, if they bear some kinda warning that saves a person from a shit-load of trouble before it can happen, should it be heeded in Time.</p>
<p>    But not all Dreams’re actually Dreams, nor are they true Visions in the sense of Seeing like a psychic would when they seem to <em>See</em> things others can’t. Sometimes, what some think’re some damn good Dreams–whether they involve other people or not–are what’s called Astral projection. Not all believe in things such as Astral projection, many claiming it to be yet another form of pseudoscience–but for the true believers, the experiences had during it can seem a lot more real than one’d think. Done in one’s sleep–especially when it’s done unconsciously–it can make Dreams feel a lot more real than they normally would. Most refer to this as lucid Dreaming, but it’s not quite the same as Astral projection.</p>
<p>    One young woman who well knew the difference–even though she Traveled through the Astral Realm unconsciously more often than she didn’t–enjoyed when it happened to her. She got to go to places and meet folks she swore she’d never get to go to and meet on the physical Plane, which was why she liked when it happened to her so much.</p>
<p>    Such was the case when she awoke one Morn in early-2020 to a sensation that some folks might consider disturbing, but brought a smile to her own face. Druella Aisling Ó Broin–who more often went by the first syllable of her middle name, Ash–didn’t particularly consider waking to an orgasm a bad thing. Granted, some of the Dreams she had that led up to such a phenomenon were downright disturbing, but the End result wasn’t necessarily so. The Dream she’d just woken from in particular could be disturbing to the other two involved in it, were they to ever find out, but she didn’t think such a thing’d happen. After all, not everybody enjoyed a case of Astral projection even unconsciously, so those men might never know about such goings-on.</p>
<p>    “Doesn’t mean that <em>I</em> can’t enjoy such Dreams–and their aftermath–when they come to me, though,” she told herself with a giggle as she sat up. “’Cuz oh, so enjoyable, they most certainly are.”</p>
<p>    What Ash didn’t realize as she stretched and headed off to start her typical wake-up routine was that one of the men in her Dream’d been napping hundreds of miles away in his own home. But he hadn’t just been Dreaming during his nap any more than she’d been before waking for the Day–or more aptly, Night–to that orgasm. They’d both been Astral projecting in their sleep, although neither one realized that’s what’d just happened to them before they both woke to more or less the same phenomenon.</p>
<p>    And the young woman certainly didn’t realize just how such a Dream–let alone a Nightly recurrence of it for both of them–was about to Change more than just her Life.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Bobby once again found himself in fairly Dark, but intimate surroundings, and while a part of him couldn’t help being a lil irritated at such a thing, another couldn’t help his excitement. He might be kinda tired of winding up here, which led to him waking up a mess, but he’d be a full-on liar if he said that he didn’t like what happened in this Dark Intimacy.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    It was easily an hour or two after he’d found himself here again that the young woman he’d grown accustomed to meeting here finally joined him. There wasn’t much to do to entertain himself with as he waited, considering this part of himself never could seem to sleep, no matter how tired it got. At least the boredom was cured with the arrival of that young woman, and it never seemed to bleed over into his actual Life worse than waking himself up with an orgasm. He wasn’t too sure what he’d do, if he were to come to this place all the Time and constantly wake up tired ’cuz it was disturbing his sleep overmuch.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    As per usual, the beautiful woman he didn’t know the name of slowly approached the bed he’d found himself on, her knee-length, silken robe somewhat open. Her shyness till he got her riled up enough never failed to amuse Bobby, ’cuz once she was riled up</em>–<em>well, saying that she wasn’t a Wild Cat’d also be a lie. But till they managed to get to that point again, he allowed his eyesta roam freely, to take in how the flickering Candlelight around them licked at her curves and valleys, casting them in the most beautiful and intriguing of Shadows.</em></p>
<p><em>    Once she was close enough, she raised on knee to plant on the edge of the bed so she could crawl onto it next to him. The bassist rolled onto his left side like he always did, his right leg raised to avoid putting too much pressure on his crotch. He’d have taken such a precautionary measure, even if he hadn’t already been hard as a rock, but he certainly did once he was. It was simply too uncomfortable</em>–<em>even at Times painful</em>–<em>to allow too much pressure to be put on such sensitive organs when they were already swollen. Said swelling wouldn’t last for long, if this young woman’d her way about it</em>–<em>although it’d certainly be repeated several Times over the course of however long it was till he woke</em>–<em>but that was fine by him.</em></p>
<p><em>    “When’re ya finally gonna tell me your name,</em> bella Signora?” <em>Bobby asked as the young woman settled beside him. He just barely remembered the phrase she’d taught him, which was supposed to mean</em> beautiful Lady <em>in Italian and suited her perfectly.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    “I might tell ya eventually, Bobby,” she answered with her characteristic mischievous grin. “But not right now.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “Needy again, huh?” the bassist chuckled, unable to help a grin of his own.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    “Seemsta me like</em> you’re <em>pretty needy, too.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    “Not like I can help it when a Beauty like yourself keeps coming to visit me,” he laughed, that laugh dying into a deep groan as he felt her grab him.</em>
</p>
<p>    “Mmm, <em>but you’re such an exquisitely gorgeous specimen of masculinity</em>–<em>even if ya</em> are <em>old by a lotta folks’ standards,” the young woman said, giggling softly as she teased him. “To me, age’s just a number assigned by humanity.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    “So you’ve told me before,” Bobby groaned. He couldn’t help letting his hands explore, even though said hands’d already pretty much discovered everything there was to discover about her body.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “That’s not to say that I wouldn’t take the younger you, if it were available,” she told him. “But since it’s not and all I’ll prolly never get my hands on a functional Time machine, I’ll take this version, too.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    The bassist couldn’t help his urge to shut her up with a kiss, which was fairly typical of their apparent Midnight trysts. Or maybe they were more of Midday trysts, since this sometimes happened when he’d lay down for an afternoon nap in the Real World, if he felt the need. He didn’t suppose it really mattered either way, ’cuz he enjoyed whatever Time he got with this young woman, even if it almost always left him wanting more.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    By the Time he started to feel this version of himself fading, which meant his physical Self was starting to wake up, he couldn’t help but try to cling tighter to her. He never wanted to leave her, whether they spent their Time in an intimate embrace so fulfilling, he’d never experienced anything else like it, or they went on some other incredible adventure together. There wasn’t anyone else he wanted to spend his Time with</em>–<em>not even his now-grown kids</em>–<em>’cuz while he loved his friends and family, there was a Mystery about this young woman he wanted to solve.</em></p>
<p><em>    Just as he felt that their Time together was up for now, he noticed something about her that he hadn’t noticed before. No, that wasn’t quite right since he’d noticed and cataloged damn near everything about her</em>–<em>this was something new that hadn’t been there before. Bobby gently fingered the necklace she’d never worn before when she paid him a visit, seemingly committing the pendants on it to memory. Moments later, he felt like he was being jerked elsewhere, and the scene that’d been playing out disappeared into thin Air</em>.</p>
<p>*         *         *</p>
<p>Groaning as he cracked open his eyes and squinted against the Sunlight streaming through his closed blinds, Bobby Wished he could go back to sleep. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence these Days, even though he tended to be a pretty active guy, despite having turned fifty-six a few months ago. Then again, his Dreams seemed to’ve become more intriguing lately than they’d ever been, what with the appearance of that beautiful young woman almost every Time he fell asleep. Course, the fact that they always felt so real to him, no matter what happened as they played out, coulda been intriguing for just about anyone.</p>
<p>    Pushing himself upright so he could swing his legs over the edge of the bed, the bassist suddenly recalled that new detail he’d noticed just before he woke up. He’d taken to keeping a notepad and pen on his nightstand about a month ago, ’cuz he found he’d to write down his Dreams as soon as he woke to be able to remember them clearly. Well, that applied more so to the Dreams where he and this young woman went on a grand adventure than it did to the sexual escapades they enjoyed together.</p>
<p>    Snatching up said notepad and pen, he started jotting down notes about this latest Dream, up to and including better details about the young woman and her tastes. Once he’d recorded those particular details, he moved on to recording the details of the necklace he’d seen around her neck that hadn’t been there in other versions of his Dream. He wasn’t sure if it was a single necklace, or if it was actually two that just looked like one entity, but the pendants still haunted his mind. The top one appeared to be a Circled five-pointed Star, a Crescent Moon that faced the left when viewed by another party in its Center. It seemed that each point bore some kinda tiny Crystal, although he couldn’t tell what Color the Crystals’d been in the Candlelight.</p>
<p>    Below that and hanging from the same kinda black chain, the second symbol was completely unfamiliar to him. It was almost like a double line or something with a head rounding up from the top of the first line, and it’d hung closer to the young woman’s ample cleavage. That top, more evil-looking pendant’d hung higher up, pretty much resting right atop her mildly-prominent collarbones just at the base of her throat.</p>
<p>    “I’m not too sure what any of this means, but I’m hoping I can find out sooner rather than later,” the bassist sighed, laying the notepad and pen back on his nightstand after attempting to sketch out the pendants.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>For anyone interested in a visual of the pendants I was describing in this chapter, here's the linksta both of them. I actually own both of these–two of the first link, 'cuz one, which was the first pendant mentioned here, has "Amethyst" at each of the five points, the second having "Onyx" at those same five points.</p>
<p>The second pendant I was describing is the symbol for the Zodiac sign, Libra. As far as the twelve-sign Zodiac's concerned, I'ma Libra, considering when my birthday falls–according to the thirteen-sign Zodiac I use more often, I'ma Virgo. I just haven't had the money to acquire one of the Virgo pendants, but that's fine by me since I know we can't always get what we want. LOL!</p>
<p>Just use the drop-down option to scroll through the birthstone/Zodiac sign options, if ya wanna look at all of them, but dunno which month/Zodiac sign goes with which Stone and symbol, respectively.<br/>~Firefly</p>
<p>Link to Pentacle Pendant–https://themoonlightshop.com/collections/pentacles/products/pentacle-of-spells?variant=683849773</p>
<p>Link to Zodiac Pendant–https://themoonlightshop.com/collections/wiccan-jewelry/products/zodiac-necklace?variant=44028017424</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Over the next month or so, Bobby Began to grow increasingly frustrated with the World that his Dreams took him to on an almost Nightly basis. He couldn’t even escape this World when he’d lay down for a nap on the Days that he woke up so tired from these wild Dreams that he needed that nap before he crashed too early. Never once could he say that he was frustrated with the nameless young woman–well, if one didn’t count being frustrated with still not knowing her name–but he was certainly frustrated with not really getting any cluesta help solve the Mystery of his Dreams.</p>
<p>    In the very Beginning, he’d wondered if she was just a figment of his overactive Imagination, then he’d started to think that maybe she was a real woman. Since he’d never met a woman that looked even remotely like her that he could recall, he hadn’t been too sure of such a possibility being real. When she continued to refuseta identify herself, he started thinking that she was just a figment of his Imagination again.</p>
<p>    The thing that startled him into bolting upright from the nap he’d stretched out on his friend Rikki’s couch wasn’t the fact that he’d yet another sexual Dream. Not even being startled awake by creaming his britches right there in his friend’s living room coulda made him bolt upright like this. No, what’d startled him so and now left his face Beet-red as he realized that it’d Manifested in the Real World again was the full contents of that Dream–and how much he’d surprisingly enjoyed it. He was so mortified by those facts that he didn’t even notice his friend panting and looking startled in the recliner across from him. All he wanted was to head upstairsta get himself cleaned up, then try to make sense of that peculiar, yet disturbingly interesting Dream.</p>
<p>    Arriving back downstairs after getting himself cleaned up, the Silver Fox of a bassist realized that his friend was also awake–and looking as disturbed as he felt. Bobby almost didn’t wanna question him about the look on his face, but something compelled him to do it, anywhore. Maybe the drummer standing on the opposite side of the island from him could help him make sense of his own Dreams of late. Then again, maybe he was about to open the door to something better left shut for both of them, but he wouldn’t know without asking.</p>
<p>    “Ya all right, Rik?” he asked, clearing his throat immediately afterward.</p>
<p>    “Huh?” Glancing up from where he’d been checking his phone, Rikki saw his friend and band mate of roughly forty Years. “Yeah, I’m fine, dude.”</p>
<p>    “Figured I’d ask,” the bassist told him. “Ya look like ya just got some disturbing or otherwise bad news.”</p>
<p>    “Well, no–it’s nothing like that,” he admitted, his face flushing again. “Just a weird Dream that I had while I was napping.”</p>
<p>    “Weird Dream–whaddaya mean by that?” Bobby asked curiously as he settled on a bar stool.</p>
<p>    “Ya know I’m with TC, have been for a few Years, and that I’m perfectly happy with her,” the drummer started. “So, you tell me–why would I Dream of having a threesome that <em>didn’t</em> involve her in some capacity?”</p>
<p>    “Yeah, I guess that <em>is</em> a lil weird for someone in your current shoes,” he agreed, nodding his thanks as he passed him a glass of Pepsi.</p>
<p>    “Now, here’s the part that really weirded me out–well, aside from waking up like I was fifteen again, hint hint,” Rikki said. “I dunno <em>who</em> the woman was, ’cuz I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before, but <em>you</em> were in my Dream, too.”</p>
<p>    “Wait, what?” The bassist was glad he hadn’t quite taken a sip from that glass yet, ’cuz he’d have choked, if he had.</p>
<p>    “It was me and you, both of us fuckin’ whoever this chick was,” he explained. “She was apparently with you more than anyone, like a serious relationship almost. But she realized I was needy as hell, ’cuz ya were sprawled out and fuckin’ in the aisle of our tour bus bunk room, and decided to take pity on me–but not without TC knowing and consenting to it first.”</p>
<p>    “Holy shit,” Bobby breathed, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. “I’m almost terrified to find out what else ya noticed in that Dream.”</p>
<p>    Shaking his head, the drummer admitted that he’d been startled awake by his own bodily functions so suddenly that he didn’t really recall anything else. Nothing about this young woman’s appearance besides long, Dark hair, which’d Shrouded her face so well, he never really got a good look at her. However, he’d noticed something laying on the mattress of the closest bunk to them that’d apparently caught his Dream Self’s attention well enough for it to stick once he woke up.</p>
<p>    He couldn’t really describe what he’d seen in a way that made sense, so he snatched up a notepad and pen that was laying on the counter next to his fridge. The bassist watched patiently as he started sketching, his artwork a lot better than his own since the blonde was into drawing comics. But it wasn’t that his friend was a better artist than him that surprised him–it was the image that took form as he kept sketching.</p>
<p>    Looking like a better-drawn version of what he’d sketched out a couple months ago were the pair of pendants from one of his own Dreams. In fact, his friend was able to capture what looked like knot work that danced around the edges of the Circle that surrounded that Star. Bobby’d noticed it in that first Dream it appeared in, then all the subsequent ones after that, but he wasn’t a talented enough artist to commit it to paper like this. Even as he felt that pang of recognition, he watched as his friend’s hand continued to move, working to sketch out something else he’d apparently noticed. Watching closely, what he was drawing took shape and slowly revealed what’d to be a third pendant, which he’d noticed around the young woman’s neck this Time.</p>
<p>    Much like the top pendant in her double-tiered necklace, it looked like a five-pointed Star completely encircled by a–well, Circle. But where that first one’d a Crescent Moon in its Center, this one’d what looked like some kinda Stone or Crystal in its Center. Not only that, but the five points weren’t marred by smaller Crystals like that first one’d been–the other five Stones, all as black as the Central one, were between each of the five points amidst more knot work. Not only that, but the knot work seemed to continue up the Metal loop used to affix it to the much-thicker, black-chrome chain this one hung from.</p>
<p>    “Fuck me, man,” the bassist breathed in shocked Awe as his friend’s hand continued to move.</p>
<p>    “What–Wishing ya could draw as well as me?” Rikki chuckled, not yet knowing the significance of his sketch.</p>
<p>    “Well, kinda, but it’s not that,” he told him.</p>
<p>    “Then what is it?” the drummer asked, eyes still focused on his work.</p>
<p>    “There’s some kinda Charms hanging from here,” Bobby told him, careful not to let his finger actually touch the paper as he gestured along the chain. “Two with just a single Stone up here, two with some kinda bead separating the two Stones on it down here, and four more with just the first Stone and bead on it in between.”</p>
<p>    “What the–how the fuck didja know that?” he asked on a gasp as he jerked his gaze up to him.</p>
<p>    “Ya prolly wouldn’t believe me, if I toldja,” the bassist answered.</p>
<p>    “Try me, ’cuz I’m not sure much could get weirder than that Dream I was having and how real it felt,” Rikki retorted, even as he moved to draw the Charms along the chain his friend had just described.</p>
<p>    “That Dream ya were describing–I had it, too,” he started, feeling his face heat up. “Right down to the–ahem, bodily functions I haven’t had to deal with since I was a teen, maybe in my twenties.”</p>
<p>    “Wait, seriously?” The drummer paused in his sketching again to look up at him.</p>
<p>    “I’ve <em>been</em> having crazy Dreams for a couple months now,” Bobby elaborated. “Not all of them’ve been sexual, but a lot definitely have been. When I’m not in some Dark, Candlelit and luxurious room, this young woman and I’ve been going off on some of the craziest adventures I’ve ever heard of.”</p>
<p>    “Have ya ever gotten a good look at her?” he asked. “’Cuz I couldn’t get a good look at her in this Dream.”</p>
<p>    “I know exactly what she looks like,” the bassist answered. “I just can’t draw for shit, so I haven’t bothered trying.”</p>
<p>    “All right, this might sound a lil weird–well, not as weird as the Dream itself,” Rikki said thoughtfully. “But I might know of a way to rectify that since I’m no better with drawing a realistic human.”</p>
<p>    With his Curiosity piqued, he motioned for him to spit out whatever idea was brewing in his head, ’cuz it might just be the solution he’d been looking for. He listened as his friend suggested calling up another friend of his, whom just happened to work as a police sketch artist. This guy obviously had to be a helluvan artist in order to get a job like that, so he’d no doubt have an easier Time of trying to bring to Life the figment of their Imaginations.</p>
<p>    Bobby couldn’t really deny that such an idea could possibly have merit, even if it was just in getting this young woman outta his head once and for all. He was surprised when his friend continued with saying that they could even use the results of their visit with his other friend to find out if she was actually real or not. Considering that he hadn’t even thought of that himself, he hadn’t thought of trying to actually find her, either.</p>
<p>    The drummer suggested that–since his gray-haired friend didn’t partake in the social media craze–he could offer himself up as a bit of a sacrificial Lamb, so to speak. Without giving away who <em>really</em> wanted to know, he could post whatever sketches his sketch artist friend did on his Instagram account. In the caption, he could claim to’ve been the one to be having Dreams of a young woman who looked eerily similar to the sketches, and that he wanted to know if anyone recognized her. While it was unlikely that anybody’d actually come forward with a lead that panned out, it couldn’t hurt anything–or anyone–to give it a shot. At best, it’d garner them both the answers they wanted–at worst, it’d eventually lose steam and fizzle out like a burnt-out Candle.</p>
<p>    Knowing he’d few other options open to him since the young woman obviously wasn’t gonna identify herself anytime soon, the bassist eventually agreed. He trusted Rikki to keep his name outta whatever post he made with the sketches once they were done, ’cuz the blonde knew how he felt about keeping his Life outside their band private. There was certainly no one else he trusted to pull such a thing together–or even had the contactsta manage it–and he really wanted answers. All those things considered, he found himself more than a lil excited as his friend made a quick call to the sketch artist they were enlisting the help of.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The pair of musicians weren’t able to get the sketch artist over to Rikki’s house till the next Morn, which was the guy’s next Day off. Given what his profession was, they couldn’t really argue with that, both knowing the image in their heads was too clear for them to forget in twenty-four hours or less. With the bassist having seen this young woman in his Dreams every Time he fell asleep for the last couple months, he no doubt had a clearer recollection of her, anywhore.</p>
<p>    Bobby was the first to take his turn with the sketch artist, whose name was Mike, and he was as excited as he was nervous. He certainly hoped that the results of this sketch’d garner him the answers he sought, even if he found out that no such woman actually existed. At least then, he could go on to simply enjoy his Dreams and the figment his too-lonely Imagination’d obviously cooked up so he’d have company.</p>
<p>    “No, the outer corners of her eyes don’t turn down like mine–they turn up,” he told Mike as he started to sketch the young woman’s eyes.</p>
<p>    “So, more along the lines of something Asian?” the sketch artist asked, grabbing his eraser.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, that’s closer to it,” Bobby answered, nodding. “Maybe some kinda Asian mixed with something else–something Native.”</p>
<p><em>    “Hmm,”</em> he hummed thoughtfully. “Native, as in Native Alaskan, or more like the Polynesians of Hawaii and other Pacific Islands?”</p>
<p>    “Polynesian, definitely,” the bassist told him. “’Cuz it’s not like any kinda Native American from the mainland that I’ve ever seen.”</p>
<p>    Mike nodded as he quickly sketched out the eye shape he’d just described.</p>
<p>    “When she’s fully awake, like she’s looking at a camera or something, her eyes aren’t quite bedroom eyes, but they’re not wide open like bug eyes, either,” he told him once he’d gotten the basic shape down.</p>
<p>    “Have ya ever been able to tell what Color they are?” the sketch artist asked.</p>
<p>    “Practically the same Color as my own,” Bobby answered, which made him look up at him.</p>
<p>    “So Dark a brown, they almost look black at first–got it,” he said, nodding as he looked back down.</p>
<p>    The bassist watched as he used the graphite pencil in his had to shade in the irises he’d finally drawn so they weren’t quite black, but damn near it for a black-and-white piece.</p>
<p>    “Her irises’ve even Darker brown rings around the outer edges,” he told him once he was done with that part.</p>
<p>    Nodding, Mike carefully Darkened the outer edges like he’d been told, gently blowing away the excess dust from his graphite pencil.</p>
<p>    This process continued for the next hour or so, the face of this young woman slowly taking shape on the paper in graphite. But not only was her face in the sketch, so was her neck and the first necklace he’d seen her wearing, the one with the two symbols. He almost couldn’t believe just how talented this man was, but Bobby couldn’t deny that he certainly had a gift when it came to drawing that outdid the drummer.</p>
<p>    Once he’d finished the first sketch and handed it to the bassist, Rikki was called in to take his turn with describing as much of the young woman as he could. He hadn’t gotten nearly as clear a look at her face as his friend, and he’d only the one Dream that involved her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t give it a whirl. Nodding his thanksta the sketch artist as his friend settled in for that turn, the Silver Fox headed off to find something else with which to amuse himself while he waited. He couldn’t help wondering just how this next sketch was gonna turn out, but he knew he wouldn’t find out for at least a couple hours.</p>
<p>    Just as he’d predicted, it was a couple hours before Mike and the drummer emerged from the latter’s office, another completed sketch in hand. Laying them out on the island side-by-side, they weren’t surprised to see practically the same image on each piece of paper torn outta the man’s sketch pad. There were a few subtle differences, namely in the young woman’s chosen hairstyle and which necklace she was wearing in each of them, but there was no doubt about it.</p>
<p>    Rikki pulled his phone outta his pocket and unlocked it, carefully settling on one of his bar stools so that he was kneeling on it. Taking care to keep his balance so he wouldn’t fall, even once he felt Bobby grab his waist from behind to help steady him, he snapped off a couple quick shots. His phone’s camera didn’t produce shitty images by any means, but they still weren’t as good as he coulda gotten with his professional camera. Neither of them cared about that, though, as long as they were clear enough for anyone who viewed them to make out once they were posted online. It was only after he’d satisfied himself with the quality of his pictures that he opened up the Instagram app and got to work on uploading them with as detailed a caption as he could possibly manage.</p>
<p>    As he watched him type out the caption explaining that he’d an incredibly Realistic Dream and wanted to know if anyone recognized the woman in the sketches, Bobby couldn’t help holding his breath and crossing his fingers. He hoped that this Ended up garnering them the results they–particularly he–wanted, but they’d have to wait and see. Satisfied with the caption his friend had typed out, thankful he’d kept his word about not mentioning him in it, he sat back to await any kinda results. Both were quickly distracted by the work they’d gathered for when it came to their band, and the matter was forgotten for the rest of the Day. Only when the drummer checked in that Eve would they realize that somebody claimed to’ve recognized the woman in the sketches.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>For anyone who wants the visual, here's the link to the second Pentacle I've described–and actually own. I consider this one my <em>fancy</em> Pentacle, 'cuz it's struck me as a lil more elaborate than the first one I described and provided a link to. This second one's the one I tend to wear, if I decide to dress up for some reason, while the other's the one I use for everyday shit, like when I head out to run errands.<br/>~Firefly</p>
<p>Link to Second Pentacle–https://themoonlightshop.com/collections/wiccan-jewelry/products/pentacle-of-the-black-onyx</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t till later that Eve just before their band, Poison, was ready to split and go their separate ways for the Day that Rikki got a chanceta check in on Instagram. Despite his Curiosity, he’d pushed his most recent post to the back of his head and locked it in a metaphorical cage since they were supposed to be working on when they were gonna get together to start rehearsing for that Summer’s <em>Stadium Tour</em>. With the outbreak of what they were calling the <em>Godzilla Flu,</em> thanksta someone online being funny in recent weeks, they all knew that was gonna be harder than it’d normally be. And knowing that his lone gray-headed band mate was even antsier to get an answer to their question didn’t exactly help him with his effort today.</p>
<p>    Turning his attention to his phone, the drummer blocked out the others deciding to just bullshit for a lil bit, even with the physical distance of about six feet between them. He was a bit surprised to see that he’d gotten a private message from someone at some point that Day, but then again, that happened a bit more frequently than some prolly thought. But with the number he sometimes got, he didn’t always respond to any of those private messages, even if he actually read them.</p>
<p>    But this one caught his eye, if only ’cuz it was from the fan-page account of a young woman he’d talked to in passing, both in person and in various other private messages. Rikki wouldn’t say he knew her anywhere near as well as he knew some of his other friends–like his band mates–but he knew her well enough for having never really gotten to know her. Finding a private message from her was a bit uncommon, but certainly not as weird as that mutual Dream he and Bobby’d had during their mid-Morn nap. Not much could get weirder than <em>that</em> kinda Dream, mutual or otherwise, especially considering how they’d woken up from it.</p>
<p>    He knew his eyes’d widened when he vaguely heard Bobby ask if he was okay, but he still tuned him out as he read the message he’d just tapped on. Apparently the owner of this fan-page recognized the young woman in the sketches he’d posted, ’cuz she’d a follower who’d followed her in Return who was a dead ringer. Unsure whether he should believe that or not, he went back to his home page and the search area to find out for sure.</p>
<p>    “Holy fuckin’ shit,” he breathed, his eyes somehow widening even more as he looked at the most recent actual picture of a person posted by the account he’d just looked up.</p>
<p>    “What is it, man?” the bassist asked, starting to sound as worried as he did curious.</p>
<p>    “Fuck what they’re saying about social distancing, dude–just get over here,” Rikki told him. He wasn’t about to spread their odd experienceta even their band mates’ filthy minds, if he could help it.</p>
<p>    Nodding, he pushed himself up from the chair he’d appropriated and joined him on the couch he’d settled on, scooting close enough to see the screen of his phone.</p>
<p>    “Look familiar to you, or have I finally lost my mind?” the drummer asked, turning his phone for him to get a better look.</p>
<p>    “Holy Jesus fuck balls,” Bobby whispered in shock, his own eyes widening as he took in the picture he was looking at. “Where the hell’dja find this, man?”</p>
<p>    “Private message one of my followers sent me,” he answered. “Elysia runs a few Poison fan-pages between here and Facebook, one of ’em being dedicated more or less solely to <em>you.”</em></p>
<p>    “Damn, seriously?” the bassist chuckled, still sounding shocked, despite being flattered.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, seriously,” Rikki answered with a chuckle of his own. “She sent me a private message so she could respect this chick’s privacy since she was pretty sure she was a dead ringer for my post earlier.”</p>
<p>    “Well, if this chick’s <em>not</em> a dead ringer, then she’s a doppelganger for whoever that chick <em>really is,”</em> he told him. “’Cuz if this isn’t the face I’ve been seeing for months, I dunno <em>whose</em> I’ve been seeing.”</p>
<p>    “What’re ya idiots babbling about over there?” Bret finally broke in, looking as bewildered as their shortest band mate did.</p>
<p>    “The long and short of it–I’ve been having some weird Dreams the last couple months,” Bobby started, looking up at the other pair of blondes. “Some extremely sexual–I’m talking, like a porno playing in my head–others more like a camping trip where we went exploring a nearby Cave outta boredom or something.”</p>
<p>    “Okay, don’t go into anymore detail about the <em>pornos in your head</em> part,” CC laughed. “’Cuz none of us wanna know <em>that</em> kinda shit.”</p>
<p>    “Well, I found out unwittingly, but we’ll get to that in a minute,” the oldest and tallest blonde chuckled.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, that we will,” he agreed, nodding. “Anywhore, the young woman in my Dreams never would identify herself–she kept telling me to just call her <em>bella Signora,</em> which’s apparently supposed to mean <em>beautiful Lady</em> in Italian.”</p>
<p>    “It’s fitting, for sure,” Rikki said thoughtfully, finally turning his phone around so the others could look at the sketches he’d posted first, then the pictures of the chick who was a dead ringer for them.</p>
<p>    “Holy shit, that looks almost identical,” the front man breathed.</p>
<p>    Nodding again, Bobby explained how he’d been trying to get this young woman to identify herself for months, no matter the context of his Dreams. Still, she was steadfast in her refusal, but certain elements started appearing in those Dreams that could be used to identify her, if he’d felt like doing it. He pointed out the necklaces she was wearing in each of the sketches, telling the shorter blondes that he’d never seen anyone else wear necklaces like these, the meaning evil-looking Star pendants irrelevant.</p>
<p>    The drummer having been unwittingly caught up in his most recent Dream about this young woman’d finally opened up an avenue to potentially identifying her the previous Morn. Again, Bret and CC didn’t wanna know the details once they admitted that it’d been a particularly raunchy Dream, but they were still just as surprised by his sudden appearance in their bassist’s Dream.</p>
<p>    Going by what he’d found on the profile he’d looked up, thanksta the private message he’d gotten, said drummer told them that this chick’s name was apparently Reagan. He wasn’t entirely sure that was her real name, rather than an online alias–which was a common occurrence these Days–but it was certainly a name other than <em>bella Signora</em>. What stood out to him the most was that, which it didn’t appear in <em>every</em> picture she’d posted of herself, that double-tiered necklace was certainly in a lotta them. It seemed to be her favorite piece of jewelry, and even if he didn’t know the meaning of that particular necklace, he was simply glad to find a picture of her with it on.</p>
<p>    Bobby was still enthralled with the pictures he was scrolling through, now that he’d taken the tallest blonde’s phone from him. He made sure to make a mental note of this chick’s name, if only so he’d have it in his arsenal the next Time he fell asleep, but he was curious about her posts. She was certainly a beautiful and apparently Creative young woman, if some of her Art projects she’d posted were anything to judge by. If he was surprised by anything, it was most likely all the pictures that were apparent cuts from screenshots she’d taken of where she’d turned him into a character for some game she played.</p>
<p>    “What’re ya looking at that’s gotcha looking so Awed, man?”</p>
<p>    Snapped outta his trance, the bassist looked up to meet CC’s curious blue gaze, unable to help his face heating up. “Ah, just some other stuff this girl’s posted on her Instagram.”</p>
<p>    “Like what? Ya looked pretty Awed or flattered–something along those lines,” the front man told him.</p>
<p>    “Well, I kinda am, if these’re completely unedited,” Bobby admitted, turning the phone he held around.</p>
<p>    “Holy shit,” they breathed in unison.</p>
<p>    “Okay, Raine and Jorja’ve gotten into <em>The Sims</em> off and on for a couple Years, and even <em>they</em> can’t pull this kinda shit off,” Bret told him.</p>
<p>    “The graphics of that one doesn’t look like the best, but hey–ya can still tell it’s Bobby pretty well,” the shortest blonde agreed.</p>
<p>    “I think that’s actually from <em>The Sims 2,”</em> he told him. “Graphics weren’t as good with that iteration, which’d explain it looking kinda shitty compared to how we’re used to seeing video games now.”</p>
<p>    “I think ya might be right,” Rikki agreed once he saw the picture for himself. “Not as pixilated as shit like Atari games from the eighties, but definitely <em>not</em> up to par with today’s standards.”</p>
<p>    “Well, this isn’t the <em>only</em> one,” the bassist told them, scrolling down to an older post that started with a picture of him from the early-to-mid-nineties.</p>
<p>    “What’s the caption say?” CC asked.</p>
<p><em>    “Okay, so using the first pic of this set as a reference visual, I’m finally getting around to posting shots of the updated version of my Bobby Dall Sim,”</em> he read after readjusting his glasses. <em>“I do believe the actual picture of him is circa the</em> Native Tongue <em>era, but I might be wrong, so don’t quote me on that.”</em></p>
<p>    “I remember that picture–and a couple others that were taken along with it–and she’s right,” the drummer mused. “Richie was in the full versions of both, so it woulda had to be from the <em>Native Tongue</em> era of the band.”</p>
<p>    Nodding, the shorter blondes motioned for him to continue reading.</p>
<p><em>    “Other than Changing his hair Color to black and using a tat set that he obviously</em> doesn’t <em>have in Reality, I’d say this updated version’s even more true-to-form than the original,”</em> Bobby continued. <em>“Thank the Gods for Alpha TS4 custom content Creators such as the one who made the hair I used to update him! Note</em>–<em>other than recoloring that aforementioned CC hair, all credit for it goesta its Creator, Newsea. Said recolor will not</em>–<em>I repeat</em> will not–<em>be released for public use, mostly due to my</em> not <em>having Newsea’s Blessing to do so.”</em></p>
<p>    Turning the drummer’s phone back around after swiping to the next picture in the set, he let the rest of the guys look at what’d caught his attention.</p>
<p>    “Definitely from a newer iteration of <em>The Sims,”</em> Bret mused. “The graphics’re too good to be from <em>The Sims 2</em> or the original, but I’d have to ask one of the girlsta be sure about it actually being from <em>The Sims 4.”</em></p>
<p>    “Either way, it’s pretty damn good,” the guitarist said. “I don’t think <em>I</em> could do this good, if I were trying to turn any of us–or another real person–into a character in one of this series’ games.”</p>
<p>    Even Rikki was forced to agree with that statement, all of them knowing that they could draw well enough to get a point across when they wanted to, but that was about it. They were all far better at expressing themselves musically, as opposed to putting a visual to their ideas by putting pensta paper. However, aside from all the posts that mentioned Witchcraft to some extent, the thing that caught the bassist’s eye was a couple of this young woman’s earliest posts dating back to 2018.</p>
<p>    In one of them, there was what was obviously an electric guitar, its body appearing a Darker shade of red than the strap attached to it. None of them could make out the exact make and model of it, but that wasn’t really a big deal to him since that wasn’t why it’d caught his eye. He might play bass in his band, but Bobby considered himself a guitarist first, a bassist second.</p>
<p>    The next picture depicted a bass guitar whose body appeared mostly black, but mighta very well had hints of an even Darker red in it. Like the electric guitar posted before it, they couldn’t make out what make and model it was, but he didn’t really care about that. He honestly didn’t even care about the strap attached to it depicting what looked like skulls on a flaming background, which was a scene reminiscent of Hell. But the thing that surprised him the most was the caption on both pictures, which read <em>Sometimes I wonder why I bother keeping this when it could be in far better hands</em>–<em>then I remember why, and that he’d kick my ass from beyond the grave, if I didn’t</em>.</p>
<p>    Bret was the first to say that he thought it was prolly ’cuz both instruments’d been given to their owner by someone who was now deceased. Who that person was and how close of a relationship he’d had with this young woman, the front man couldn’t say, but that was the best he could come up with. It certainly made sense, and it only added to Bobby’s Respect for this young woman, considering what he’d gotten to know about her in their shared Dream World. Even if she couldn’t play for shit compared to him, she was keeping something special in her possession to keep someone’s memory alive–and it made him like her even more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>The next Time he found himself in that Darkened, Candlelit room awaiting the young woman who’d been frequently visiting him, Bobby’d made sure to memorize the name he’d finally discovered. Before allowing himself to fall asleep, though, he’d taken to the Internet to find out the meaning of that name, and he honestly thought it suited her pretty well.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    A name apparently of Irish origin, Reagan was supposed to mean</em> Lil King, <em>and while this young woman didn’t always strike him as regal, she was certainly the Monarch of their lil Dream World. She was a pretty short woman compared to his flat-footed height of six-foot-even, and she was definitely quite the leader when they went on one of their lil adventures. Ever Fearless by what he’d noticed, she didn’t seem to be afraid to try much of anything, whether it was quite literally getting lost in the Woods or heading out on the open Sea for what felt like a week or two in a Time frame that was really only a few hours at best.</em></p>
<p><em>    He forced himself not to fidget as he waited this Time, his physical body deeply asleep on Rikki’s couch, where he’d fallen asleep watching TV after getting back from Poison’s meeting. Whether it was a good or bad idea, he was Intent on calling this young woman out on her name when she visited him this Time, ’cuz he was sure she would. The thing he</em> wasn’t <em>sure about was how she’d react to him finally finding out what it apparently was, as Intent as she’d been on him</em> not <em>knowing.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    It took an hour or two after he found himself in that familiar setting, but Reagan finally made her appearance in their shared Dream World. The bassist couldn’t help looking up at her from where he lay with a grin on his face, his Anxiety subsiding a hair at that appearance. He couldn’t help a chuckle as her expression shifted to one of sheer Curiosity, that chuckle turning into a laugh as he caught her glancing at his crotch before her gaze Returned to his face. For once upon her arrival, he wasn’t hard as a rock in this World, and she was no doubt curious about why that was, as hypersexual as he normally was with her.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    “Well, well, well</em>–<em>look what the Cat dragged in, Reagan,” Bobby said, that grin still stretching his face.</em></p>
<p><em>    The young woman’s eyes widened in shock, the slow steps she’d been taking toward the bed halting as she froze in place. “How’dja</em>–<em>” she started to ask, only to get cut off by him.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    “’I’ma resourceful guy when I wanna be,” the bassist told her, still grinning as he shrugged. “Ya refused to tell me your name, even though I’ve toldja damn near everything you’ve wanted to know about me, so I figured out a way to get the answers I wanted.”</em>
</p>
<p><em>    “So,</em> you’re <em>the one who got Rikki to make that post on Instagram,” Reagan mused. “I shoulda known when I saw it.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    “Wait, ya actually know about that?” He was a bit taken aback as she finally finished her courseta the bed and settled on the edge of it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “I’m starting to think this ain’t just a Dream more than I already was before,” the young woman answered. “’Cuz yeah, I know that he made an Instagram post with a couple sketches obviously done by a professional artist.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    Bobby couldn’t help cocking a brow at her. “Whaddaya mean by that?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “I don’t think this is some kinda Dream World like we’ve thought it was,” she told him. “I think we’ve been meeting on the Astral Plane all this Time without realizing it before.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    The bassist was completely confused, as evidenced by the way his brow furrowed.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “Witches like me believe in the Astral Plane, that it’s kinda like a completely different World or Dimension where we live totally different Lives,” Reagan explained. “Some believe it’s where the Soul passes through on its way to Birth and after a person’s physical Death, but not all do.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “So, you’re a Witch?” he asked, sounding as wary as he did curious. “Am I supposed to assume that’s what those necklaces ya wear tie into?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “Yeah, they do,” the young woman answered, nodding.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    Bobby was enthralled as she explained that a Pentacle</em>–<em>the top pendant of her double-tiered necklace</em>–<em>was a five-pointed star encased by an outer Circle. Adopted by the first Pagan practitioners, it was always seen with its apex pointing upward toward the Divine. The Pentagram</em>–<em>which was a five-pointed Star</em> without <em>that outer Circle</em>–<em>was an Ancient symbol with many different meanings and representations. One of the original ones was that the four lower points represented the four aspects of the World</em>–<em>Earth, Air, Fire, and Water</em>–<em>with the fifth, top point representing the Divine Spirit.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    Another interpretation was the Creative Spirit over all Creation, or in other words, mind-slash-Spirit over matter. Some interpretations even placed specific details on each meaning, such as Earth on the lower left point and meaning Stability and Physical Endurance. Fire was on the lower right point, meaning Courage and Daring, Water on the upper right point and symbolic of Emotions and Intuition. Air was assigned to the upper left point above Earth, and symbolized Intelligence and the Arts, while Spirit was always at the topmost point, and was symbolic of Deity, the Divine, and the All that Is. In some cases, the Star was encircled by a Wheel, which was representative of the continual flow of Life, or Energy.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    All in all, the Pentacle wasn’t necessarily a negative religious symbol, no matter which way it was turned</em>–<em>Reagan swore it was all in the Intent of whoever used it. Granted, the inverted Pentacle was often associated with the Church of Satan or the Devil, but this version of the Pentacle wasn’t commonly used by Modern Witchcraft Traditions.</em></p>
<p><em>    However, the negative was based on misconceptions of Witchcraft employed during the European Inquisition. If the upright version represented</em> God <em>or a Deity, then the inverted Pentacle was said to represent Satan or the Underworld. The two lower points pointing upward were said to represent the horns of the Horned God Cernunnos, who was a Celtic God. It was only when the Church of Satan was established in 1966 that this version of the Pentacle was adopted as their symbol of Baphomet.</em></p>
<p><em>    “It’s important to note that the Church of Satan in this form’s not a church of the Christian devil</em>–<em>Satan’s actually the Hebrew name of the Egyptian God Set,” the young woman told him.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    “I feel like I’m back in school or something,” he chuckled. “Course, that doesn’t mean that I’m not still a bit uneasy aboutcha wearing such a symbol, no matter what it means.”</em>
</p>
<p><em>    “No more than I’ll lie about not liking seeing</em> you <em>wear your cross necklace,” Reagan shot back, a smirk playing at her lips.</em></p>
<p><em>    “What’s</em> that <em>supposed to mean?” the bassist asked, unsure if he was truly mocking his offense or not.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    “Historially speaking, it’s your cross that’s instilled more Fear than my Pentacle ever has,” she laughed. “’Cuz when ya think about the amount of Fear that Pagans the World over’ve lived in for Centuries…”</em>
</p>
<p><em>    “Ya know, that actually</em> does <em>make sense,” Bobby said thoughfully. “’Cuz Paganism’s an older religion than anything monotheistic, isn’t it?”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    “Most likely Millennia older, according to various historical texts uncovered over the Centuries,” the young woman answered with a nod.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “Well, I’m sure that’s not the only meaning behind that particular religious symbol,” he told her. “Got any others? ’Cuz I’ll admit that I’m genuinely curious.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “Well, as far as Wiccan symbols go, the Pentagram ain’t a representation of good versus evil,” Reagan told him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “It’s not?” the bassist asked.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    “Nope</em>–<em>it’s actually a symbol of our Faith, a symbol of the Five Elements, one for each point,” she answered. “The Circle</em>–<em>symbolic of the Universe</em>–<em>contains and connects ’em all. No matter which way it’s facing, there’s nothing</em> bad <em>about it.”</em></p>
<p><em>    Again, Bobby was enthralled as she went on to say that another misconception about the Pentagram in Wicca</em>–<em>and Paganism at large</em>–<em>was which way it pointed. Again, one’d find common misinformation that said the Pentagram was</em> evil, <em>if fifth-point-down and</em> good, <em>if fifth-point-up. The point down was most commonly associated with Satanism as she’d previously stated ’cuz the largest branch of Satanism adopted the inverted Pentagram with a Goat head inside it as their symbol.</em></p>
<p><em>    In actuality, it was Traditionally used both point-up</em> and <em>point-down by Pagan practitioners, and not necessarily by those considered evil. Point-up Pentagrams were certainly more common; but point-down Pentagrams weren’t considered evil at all by most practitioners. He couldn’t say that he wasn’t surprised to learn that, considering that he’d been raised in a Christian household and to believe they were both symbolic of evil.</em></p>
<p><em>    Reagan couldn’t help a laugh as she explained that the point-up Pentagram represented the Spirit ascending above matter. As she’d also previously said, the top point represented the Element of Spirit, while the other four points represented the four Spiritual Elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. However, when a Pentagram was point-down, it was supposed to represent Spirit descending into matter instead. This was most Traditionally used in lineage Covens during second-degree initiations, ’cuz it was at this point of one’s Spiritual Path that one turned</em> inward. <em>One faced and challenged their</em> Dark side, <em>as it were</em>–<em>as in, their base Emotions, Fears, ignorance, prejudices, etc.</em>–<em>and they dealt with them and developed Mastery over themselves.</em></p>
<p><em>    The young woman couldn’t help another laugh at the thoughtful look that crossed the face of the man at her side. He’d always struck her as a fairly open-minded and curious guy, if only based on his professed love of reading</em>–<em>particularly Stephen King novels</em>–<em>in his younger Years. While there were many endearing qualities that’d made her all but fall in Love with him, that was one of the biggest ones on her list. She preferred someone she could talk to without getting into even a debate, let alone a full-on argument over something.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    “Well, I gotta say, I definitely wasn’t expecting this meeting to turn out quite like this,” Bobby chuckled.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “Seems like ya weren’t expecting it to take a sexual turn, either,” she laughed, shooting another pointed look at his crotch.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “All I really Intended to do was call ya out on knowing your name,” the bassist admitted with a grin.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    “Which ya technically</em> still <em>don’t.” Reagan shot him a mischievous grin as her gaze Returned to his face again. “Ya only know my online alias since I’m pretty picky over the personal info I just hand out to folks.”</em></p>
<p><em>    “Well, I don’t really care if it’s your real name or an alias for right now,” he told her. “I just wanted something besides</em> bella Signora <em>to call ya, even though I’ll be the first one to admit that it’s fitting.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>    The young woman couldn’t help blushing, which he just barely caught in the dim Candlelight flickering around them.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “Just do me a favor, if ya can,” Bobby said.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    “Depends on the favor, I guess,” the young woman responded, cocking a brow curiously.</em>
</p>
<p><em>    “Try not to get Rikki in on anymore of these clandestine meetings of ours,” he chuckled. “That freaked</em> both <em>of us out more than a lil bit.”</em></p>
<p><em>    “Oh, Gods</em>–he’d <em>that so-called Dream, too?” Reagan asked, sounding downright mortified.</em></p>
<p><em>    “Let’s just say we</em> both <em>woke up to a phenomenon we haven’t experienced in Years, and from the same Dream, the other Morn,” the bassist answered with a laugh. “Whaddaya think sparked us into getting those sketches done so he could post them?”</em></p>
<p><em>    “Well, I can’t say it won’t happen again</em>–<em>I don’t Control my Dreams or the Astral Plane, after all,” she told him. “Nor can I help who I find attractive, no matter what Plane it’s on.”</em></p>
<p><em>    Bobby knew she’d a point, and he was actually flattered that</em>–<em>based on the past couple months</em>–<em>she found him more attractive than she found his tallest blonde band mate. Now that they’d covered some relatively serious topics, though, he couldn’t help giving in to the temptation offered by the satiny robe she’d shown up in once again. He was just a guy, after all, and no matter how young or old he was, he was still gonna have needs as much as she was.</em></p>
<p><em>    It didn’t take either of them long to go with the flow that he’d started when he rolled to gently pin her on her back, his gentle grinding making her let out a pleasured mewl. He certainly didn’t realize his physical body was once again reacting to what was going on in this Otherworld</em>–<em>the bassist was more interested in enjoying this tryst while it lasted since he knew it’d End once one or both of them woke.</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, I refer to this Coronavirus pandemic as <em>the Godzilla Flu,</em> and yes, I'm well aware that Gozilla's Japanese while this pandemic started in China. But when ya think about it, the Bird Flu was worse than your typical case of the flu, the Swine Flu was even stronger than the Bird Flu–now this version of the flu's worse than any of the other three. What could get worse than some kinda Bird or Pig coming after ya than a City-Destroying monster, right? My personal belief's that we need some comic relief during this horrible Insanity–and I was more asleep than not when I started using that particular term–and thus the hashtag <em>#GodzillaFlu</em> was born.</p>
<p>On another note, my personal belief regarding the Pentagram and Pentacle both is the second explanation of what the difference between fifth-point-up and fifth-point-down is. In addition, I believe that while the Circle of a Pentacle <em>does</em> symbolize a continuation of Life and Cycles–look up the <em>Wheel of the Year,</em> if ya wanna know more–I also believe that that Circle's symbolic of the protective Circle a lotta Witches cast when doing spell work. As in, I believe that that Circle's meant to protect Spirit and the four Earthly Elements.</p>
<p>That being said, no Witch believes in forcing our beliefs and ways of Life on others–we're not into conversion by force. I'ma mention various parts of Paganism in damn near everything I write to some extent, so either overlook it or simply don't read my works, if ya disagree and/or Intend to start an argument with me over it. I'll educate those curiousta the best of my abilities, point 'em to others who can if I can't, but I won't converse with the close-minded who wanna argue.<br/>~Firefly</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>